Nightwing
by Sparkers16
Summary: When a baby dragon named Nightwing is injured and forced to stay in Ponyville, Spike is excited to finally meet a dragon his age. He assumes the two will become fast friends. But what he expects and how Nightwing acts are two very different things. (I DO NOT OWN MY LITTLE PONY)
1. Chapter 1

_**Yep, I'm starting ANOTHER story. This has always been an idea of mine. But since I'm super busy with school, work, and my other stories, don't expect this to be updated too often.**_

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**-Skies Above Ponyville, 11:18 P.M, ?'s POV-**

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I flap my wings, enjoying the blissful, cool night air on my face. It does not matter if I am being chased, if I am running for my life. Flying through the sky is calm and relaxing.

I see a town below me. Through my travels, I have seen many towns. Towns with lion-eagles, towns with magic-horn-horses, towns with wing-horses. I have the urge to swoop down and learn what kind of creatures live in this town. But then I remember I am in danger. No time for sightseeing.

I am now flying over a thick-tree forest. It would be nice to land in a tree for the night, but something about the forest seems...foreboding. Besides, I cannot rest, or else he will catch me.

Just then, I hear a roar in the distance. A full-grown, humongous white dragon is flying around, looking for me. As soon as I see him, my pulse quickens. He has not seen me yet, but he has caught my scent. I have to get away! I flap my wings as fast as I can, trying to escape. But the sound of my frantic flapping has alerted him to my position. He turns around and sees me, a low growl rising from his throat. He unfolds his massive wings and flies towards me. He eliminates the space between us in a matter of seconds.

"PREPARE TO DIE, HATCHLING!" He roars, spitting a column of white-hot flames at me.

"Never!" I screech back, gliding to the side and barely managing to dodge the fire.

He keeps breathing fire, and I keep avoiding it. In the process, he's started a forest fire that will be difficult to put out. Eventually, he runs out of fire to breathe. Frustrated, he swings his long, spiked tail at me. He hits me. I feel a rush of pain, and I get sent plummeting to the ground. He catches me in his claws.

"YOU'RE MINE," he hisses, raising one claw to impale my chest. This is the end.

Just as the tip of his razor-sharp talon pierces me, I hear a voice.

"Just what do you think you're doing, mister?!" It's a female voice. I look up and see a yellow wing-horse with a long, pink mane.

"THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, LITTLE HORSE," The dragon snarls. "NOW GO BEFORE I EAT YOU!" I roll my eyes. Dragons don't eat horses. Their fluffy manes get stuck in our throats.

"You know what?" The wing-horse looks the dragon in the eye. "I think it is my business when you're about to take the life of an innocent hatchling! What do you have to say for yourself?!" Suddenly, the wing-horse's eyes seem to radiate invisible energy. The white dragon whimpers. This pony has great power.

"Let go of that baby dragon RIGHT NOW!" The wing-horse screams. The dragon loosens his talons and I fall to the ground. The wing-horse catches me and carries me in her forelegs. I want to fly away, but my wings are bursting with pain. The spot where the dragon pierced me with his claw is bleeding heavily. I can't move.

"Now, leave!" The mare's eyes radiate even more energy than before. The giant dragon flies off, growling.

"Oh, you poor thing," she cries, seeing my wounds. "I'll take you back to my cottage and we'll get you all fixed up, okay?"

"No," I cough weakly. She might have driven the dragon off for now, but he'll be back. I can't stay in one place if I want to survive.

"No is not an answer," the horse says sternly. "You're very hurt and you need help. You don't want me to use the Stare on you too, do you?"

I shake my head quickly. I'm guessing that the wing-horse's eye-energy is called the Stare.

"Good," she says. She carries me over the burning forest to the town. It's begun to rain, the droplets sizzling when they touch the fire. Hopefully, it will be put out soon.

She lands in front of a small house after a few minutes. She opens the door. This is my last chance. I can knock her out and escape right now. But something makes me not do this. I keep telling myself that I'm scared of the Stare, but this is not the case. I sort of...trust the wing-horse.

"What's your name, little dragon?" she asks.

The throbbing pain running through my body is unbearable. I can feel myself sinking into unconsciousness. My name? I'm too tired to make a fake one. "Nightwing," I say, before everything goes black.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Here goes the second chapter! Read and review!**_

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**-Fluttershy's Cottage, 9:07 A.M, Fluttershy's POV-**

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I wake up in the morning, yawning. I check my clock. 9:07! I never sleep this late! It must have been that mean old dragon waking me up in the middle of the night. I can tell I've overslept something...of course! I need to check on the baby dragon, Nightwing!

I flit over to the guest bedroom of my cottage, where I tucked Nightwing in last night, after bandaging the gash on its chest and putting its broken wings in casts. I feel bad for the little dragon. It'll have to stay here for a long time to recover. I can't imagine why that adult dragon was attacking it... Nightwing is sleeping soundly in the bed, snoring tiny puffs of smoke. Luckily, the smoke isn't enough to cause a problem.

A knock on the door startles me, and I leap a few feet into the air before answering it. It's Twilight, with Spike lounging on her back.

"Fluttershy! We need your help!" Twilight exclaims.

"Wh-what's wrong?" I stammer.

"There was a huge forest fire in the Everfree Forest last night," Twilight says, motioning for me to come outside. "A lot of animals got hurt, and lost their homes to the flames."

"That's terrible!" I gasp. I saw the dragon setting fire to the forest, but I didn't know it was this serious...

"Exactly," Twilight nods, walking out. I follow her. "We're setting up a rescue team to help all the injured animals, and we need your help."

"I'd be happy to help in any way I can!"

"We'll need all the help we can get," Spike muttered. "Those animals are super annoying."

The three of us walk on the path into the Everfree Forest, which scares me, but not as much when I think about all the poor little creatures that are depending on me.

As we go deeper into the forest, I can see the wreckage the fire has brought. Trees and plants are burned black, and although the flames have been quenched, smoke still hangs in the air. Twilight and I cough as we enter the hazy black cloud. Soon enough, we come to a station where ponies are handing out gas masks to protect us from the smoke. Twilight and I each take one and strap them on.

"Spike?" I say, my voice muffled by the mask. "Aren't you going to put one on, too?"

"Nah, don't need to," he grins. "I'm a dragon, remember? Smoke-proof." He takes big gulps of the polluted air to prove his point.

We meet up with about ten other ponies, who are searching for surviving animals in the burnt forest. They're taking all the wounded animals to Ponyville Animal Hospital.

"Alright, let's get searching," Twilight says, plunging deep into the blackened undergrowth.

"Come out, little animals," I say soothingly, flying after Twilight. "We don't want to hurt you, we want to help you."

As soon as I say this, two sparrows, a bunny, and a squirrel come limping towards me. I want to cry after seeing them. They've all received heavy burns. I spread out my wings for the animals to ride on. They gladly climb on, wincing as they do so.

I slowly walk back to Ponyville, luring out more hurt animals with kind words. I allow them to ride on my wings, back, head, and in my long, pink mane. Before I know it, I'm covered head-to-hoof in animals clinging to my fur. And I love every moment of it. I've always known that caring for animals was what I was meant to do. My destiny.

I make it back to the hospital. Twilight's there, holding a squirming chipmunk with a burnt off tail in her mouth. She chuckles when she sees the parade following me.

"I've never understood why they love you so much," she says, the chipmunk breaking free of her grasp to burrow into my tail.

I shrug as I take the animals into the care room, where they are reluctantly dropped off with a few veterinarians.

As Twilight, Spike, and I are walking back to the forest, she turns and asks me, "Do you have any idea what started the fire?"

I gulp as I tell her the truth. "It was a d-dragon."

"A dragon?!" Twilight and Spike cry out in unison.

"Yes. I woke up in the middle of the night when I heard this huge roaring sound. I flew into the Everfree Forest, and there I saw a full-grown, white dragon breathing fire. He was trying to catch a baby dragon. He almost killed the hatchling, but I stopped him with the Stare, and made him go away."

"So he set fire to the forest," Twilight muses.

"Hey, what happened to the baby dragon?" Spike asks.

"It was badly hurt. Its wings were broken, and it had a huge cut on its chest. So, I took it in. I'm working on healing it."

"Wait," Spike says in disbelief. "There's a dragon in your house right now?"

I nod. "You know, the dragon looks about your age, Spike. Maybe you can keep it company!"

"That's just what I was thinking!" The purple dragon bounces on his tail. "I've never met a dragon my age before! We'll be best friends!"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Spike," Twilight scolds. "Why don't we meet this dragon?"

"What about the animals?" I frown.

"Well, since you brought in about a hundred animals, I think we're good," Spike laughs.

"O-okay then," I sigh as we walk over to my cottage.

Inside, I lead them to the guest bedroom. Nightwing is still there, fast asleep.

"It's name is Nightwing," I say quietly.

"It's a she," Spike interrupts. "I just...know."

Twilight and I stare at Nightwing in confusion. The baby dragon has dark blue scales, red spikes running down her head and back, and a white belly and wings. There's nothing really to suggest that the dragon is female. But I'm sure Spike is correct. He must be able to tell, being a dragon himself.

"Can we wake her up?" Spike looks at me expectantly.

"Sorry, but no," I shake my head. "She's hurt, and needs her rest."

"How about we come back tomorrow and see if she's awake?" Twilight suggests.

"That sounds great," I agree. Twilight and Spike walk out the door and leave.

Once they're gone, I look back at Nightwing. I've only heard her speak once, and it was just a "no." Nothing to provide evidence to who she is. I wonder what her personality will be like.


	3. Chapter 3

**-Fluttershy's Cottage, 8:39 A.M, Nightwing's POV-**

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For the longest time, I let the blissfulness of sleep eradicate my pain. But soon, I feel a ray of sunlight beaming down on me. As much as I try to stay asleep, the sun makes me hot and I'm forced to wake up. I yawn, stretch my arms, and open my eyes. And my world spins out of control.

Where am I?! I spasm out of control, clawing and kicking, until I realize I'm alone. In a bed. In the yellow wing-horse's house. I have to get out of here. My littermates will never stop teasing me if they figure out I stayed with a namby-pamby pony. I try to unfold my wings and fly through the open window where the sun is shining out, but I can't move them. I look at them and growl. My wings are covered in hard, white cloth that holds them in place. I bite and scratch at the cloth, but it doesn't budge. I flop back down on the bed, defeated.

After a minute, I hear the faint flap of the yellow wing-horse flying towards the room I'm in. She flutters in, holding a platter filled with different vegetables and hay.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake, Nightwing," she gushes. How does she know my name? Then, I remember telling my name to her right before I fell asleep. Seems like I've been making many wrong moves. I wonder what I should do with the pony. I want to knock her out and escape, but I don't want her to use...what was it called again...The Stare. I suppose I'll play along, act nice. Then, I can surprise attack her so she won't use The Stare. Perfect.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Miss...um..."

"Fluttershy," the wing-horse gives me a huge grin.

"Yes. Fluttershy." It takes all my self-control not to roll my eyes at her name. Ponies have such cute, wimpy names. "I'm so grateful that you took me in!" I hope she doesn't see me gagging.

"Why, thank you!" Fluttershy dips her head. "From what Spike told me about wild dragons, I thought they were all mean bullies. But you seem much nicer."

Nicer? Ha! Just wait until she gets a taste of my claws! To stop myself from smiling evilly, I ask her question. "Who is Spike?"

"Oh, you'll see soon!" Fluttershy squeals. "He's so excited to meet you!"

Then, my stomach growls. Fluttershy notices and holds out the platter of food to me. "Oh, I'm sorry, you must be very hungry. I know dragons eat jewels, but I don't have any."

She doesn't have jewels? Well, that's useful information. Now I know that trying to steal from her will be a waste of time.

"So, I decided to give you all sorts of food and see if you like any," Fluttershy finishes. She gives me the platter, and leaves. I stare at the food suspiciously. Lettuce, carrots, hay, flowers...ew. This is all pony food. Sure, I can eat it, but I'd much rather have some meat or gems.

Then, a little white figure jumps onto my bed and motions at the carrots. A bunny. That'll do for food. I crouch in a hunting position, licking my lips. But then, I realize if I eat the bunny, Fluttershy will probably be angry at me. I can't have that happen if I want to keep on good terms with her. So, I lie back down on my bed and allow the rabbit to take a carrot from the platter of pony food.

Fluttershy flies back into the room, to see the bunny munching on one of my carrots. "Angel!" she scolds. "Did you steal Nightwing's food?"

Angel tries to act out that I let him have the carrot, but I push him aside with one claw. "Miss Fluttershy, the rabbit wants me to starve to death so he can have your attention!"

"Angel! That is not how we treat guests!" Fluttershy glares at the bunny. "You're leaving right now!" Fluttershy forces him to drop the carrot and carries him out of my room. I catch him giving me a look of pure hatred as Fluttershy takes him away. I wave goodbye, grinning maliciously, and chewing on the carrot Angel was eating. Nightwing, one, Ponies, zero.

I sit around for a long time, bored out of my wits. After what feels like an eternity, I hear a knock on the door of Fluttershy's cottage. She answers the door, and I hear the sounds of multiple beings walking. If I listen hard enough, I can hear them talking.

"Is she like the dragons I met at the migration?" I hear a young, male talking.

"Oh, yes, Nightwing is very sweet, Spike." That's Fluttershy's soft voice.

They enter my room. Fluttershy is there, along with a magic-horn-horse. The magic-horn horse has a lavender coat, and a dark mane streaked with violet and pink. And to the right of the two ponies, there is...a dragon! I can tell it's a male. He has faded purple scales, bright green spikes, and a yellow-ish green underbelly. He doesn't have his wings yet. He's holding a sack, filled with something that smells delicious.

"Um...Twilight, Fluttershy, can I talk to her alone?" he asks the two ponies.

"Of course, Spike," the purple one, Twilight, says, sounding a bit confused. She and Fluttershy walk out.

"Uh...hi," he says, turning to me.

"Are you injured, too?" is the first thing that comes out of my mouth. Maybe Fluttershy kidnaps baby dragons to "heal" them.

"No," Spike answers. "I...live here. In Ponyville. With Twilight."

"Really? You actually live with ponies?" I say, dumbstruck.

"Yep," he replies, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"Wow, talk about namby-pamby," I say, rolling my eyes. "These ponies are so lame."

"Hey! Don't you talk about my friends like that!" He narrows his eyes.

Hm. Maybe he isn't as much as a loser as I thought. He can stand up for himself, at least. I decide to play nice again. "I was just testing to see how much you like ponies. Just to see if they're not so bad, after all."

"Oh, okay. I brought us something to share," Spike changes the subject. He jumps up onto the bed and empties the sack he was carrying. Tons of huge, well-polished gems roll out onto the bed.

"This is my stash," Spike explains. "Twilight keeps getting mad at me 'cause she thinks it's getting too big. So maybe we can share it!"

I refrain from remarking how he just lets Twilight order him around. This stash isn't even that big. About fifty gems at most. But I know one thing for sure: I'm not going to just "share" these with Spike.

I bat my silver-gray eyes at him. "I'm all sick, and Fluttershy isn't giving me any good things to eat. Can I have all the gems? Pretty please?" I've been told by many that I'm beautiful for a dragon. So maybe, I can charm Spike into giving me the gems.

"Oh...um...I don't know..." Spike sighs, straightening his scales. "I mean, I've been saving up these gems for a long time, and..."

"Come on, Spike, you can't just ignore one of your kind in need," I pout, turning up the charm to the maximum. "It would be so noble and kind for you to give me these gems."

Spike fidgets for a minute, looking very uncomfortable. "Well, um, sure, Nightwing. Here. Take them." He pushes the jewels in my direction and leaves, looking miserable.

I pop a ruby in my mouth, savoring the taste. This is too easy.


	4. Chapter 4

**-Outside Fluttershy's Cottage, 9:27 A.M, Spike's POV-**

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"YOU WHAT?!" Twilight and Fluttershy scream.

"Spike, you've been collecting those gems for months!" Twilight says in disbelief. "How could you just give them away like that?!"

"What, is it wrong for me to be generous?" I snap.

"No, of course not!" Fluttershy protests. "But to give Nightwing all those jewels...it just doesn't seem like you."

"Then maybe you guys don't know me that well," I shout, storming off. I know it was wrong to yell at Twilight and Fluttershy like that. But I just don't feel like sitting around as they try to analyze my every action. I collapse on a bench right next to the quill and sofa shop. I honestly don't know why I let Nightwing have those gems. It took me so long to go out to the quarries outside Ponyville, to dig for the precious jewels myself. I would've asked Rarity for help, but she always took the gems for herself.

But I still don't regret letting Nightwing have the gems. I just don't. Was it because she called me kind and noble? Yeah, maybe. But please. This is Spike the dragon we're talking about; I'm not the kind to be flattered THAT easily. I think it was something else. The way Nightwing was batting her eyes at me, those big, gray eyes. And just like that, I can't stop picturing the dragoness. Her beautiful eyes, her shining indigo scales, her sharp, long red spines, her perfect tail... I've never been so absorbed with someone's appearance before. Except for Rarity. But the posh unicorn just doesn't seem to matter to me anymore.

The area around me is suddenly darker, and I feel a chill. I look up to see a small, black storm cloud suspended over me.

"Aw, looks like somepony's got a dark cloud hangin' above their head," a familiar, tomboyish voice rings out. A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane pokes her head out of the cloud.

"That was funny the first hundred times, Rainbow Dash," I say, exasperated.

"And it still is!" Rainbow says, kicking the cloud into oblivion. "But really. What's wrong, buddy?"

"Well," I take a deep breath, "this baby dragoness named Nightwing almost got killed by a full-grown dragon but then Fluttershy rescued her and brought her in to heal her because she had broken wings and so I thought Nightwing and I would be really great friends because she's also a dragon and I brought her my stash of gems to share but instead I gave her all my gems but somehow I'm not angry or sad about giving them all away, and I don't know how to feel about her!" I finally finish, gasping for air.

It takes a minute for all that information to sink into Dash's head. "Let me get this straight. You just gave away your stash of gems that you've been saving up for months?!"

"Yeah," I sigh. "Nightwing convinced me to."

"Convinced you to, huh?" Rainbow says suspiciously. "How exactly did she 'convince you?'"

"Well, she sort of forced me to. She was batting her eyes, and wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Aha!" Rainbow exclaims triumphantly. "So we have a manipulator on our hooves!"

"What can you do about it?" I ask.

"We can't do a thing for you, Spike," Rainbow Dash admits. "You're gonna have to stand up to her yourself."

"But I don't think I CAN stand up to her," I say helplessly.

"Then we'll have to take a more forceful way. No one bullies my friends! I'll go to Fluttershy's and kick that dragon's butt!" Rainbow begins to fly away.

"No!" I gasp, yanking Rainbow's tail back. "Don't hurt Nightwing!"

"Then stop being a chicken and go tell her off!" Rainbow counters.

"Okay, okay, I will!"

"Then let's go! She's probably already stuffing your gems in her face!" Without warning, Rainbow picks me up, throws me on her back and speeds off towards Fluttershy's house.

At the sickeningly fast speeds Rainbow Dash flies, we reach Fluttershy's cottage in a few seconds. Inside, Fluttershy and Twilight are having tea.

"I'm going to ask Nightwing for my gems back," I announce, startling Fluttershy and Twilight. Before they can reply, I rush off to the guest room. Nightwing is there, dangling a carrot over Angel's head. The little white rabbit looks ready to explode is he fails to reach the carrot.

Nightwing looks over and sees me. "Hello there, Spike."

"Hi" is all I can say. I can't stop looking at Nightwing. She seems even prettier in person, as if my imagination can't picture her true beauty. I force these thoughts out of my head and steel my will. "Give me back my gems!" I growl, jumping onto the large guest bed.

Nightwing blinks at me, surprised. Then, she smiles a fanged grin. "Make me."

"You can't just take them all for yourself! I said, give them back!"

"And I said, make me." Nightwing curls herself around the sack of gems, just like a full-grown dragon would do with their hoard.

I give out a snarl. Before I can stop myself, I jump forward and tackle Nightwing. The two of us grapple with each other, clawing and hissing. She punches my belly, making me double over. Before I can recover, she pushes me down on the bed. "That was too easy," she laughs.

I feel my blood boil with rage. The anger reaches my fire gland, and I uncontrollably release a column of green flames at Nightwing. Like all dragons, she's fireproof, but the massive flames surprise her and she falls over. I jump on top of her. Now she's the one pinned down. But then, I feel kind of embarrassed being on top of her like this, so I let her go. I brace myself, expecting another attack. Nothing comes.

"Alright, you win," Nightwing stands up. She takes the sack of gems and throws it at me, and I catch it.

"Really?" I say, shocked that I defeated her. "I mean, yeah. Of course I won." I try to sound confident, puffing out my chest.

"You're not that bad, Spike," Nightwing says, dusting herself off. "I thought you were all weak and lame, living with these ponies, but I was wrong."

"Um, thanks," I peer down into the sack. It looks like Nightwing ate about half of the delicious jewels. That's fine with me. I wanted to split them halfway, so I guess I got what I wanted.

"Seriously, once Fluttershy lets me out, we should hang out. You're pretty cool."

"I'd love to hang out!" I exclaim, failing to sound nonchalant.

"See ya," Nightwing lies back down on the bed. "I'm gonna take a nap."

"Bye," I say, leaving the room. Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy are waiting for me outside.

"I'm guessing it went well?" Twilight asked hopefully. Rainbow must've told them that I was going to stand up to Nightwing.

"Yep," I confirm, holding out the sack. "She gave my gems back."

"That's great!" Fluttershy says.

"Is Nightwing still a manipulating jerk?" Rainbow crosses her forelegs.

"Don't call her that," I find myself defending Nightwing. "She told me I was cool. We're going to hang out sometime."

"But aren't you mad at her for taking your stash?" Twilight says, confused.

"Nah, I'm forgiving her," I shake my head. "Nightwing is more gorgeous than you might think." After a second, I realize what I said. "I mean, generous! Generous, not gorgeous. Heh." I leave Fluttershy's cottage, leaving the ponies looking baffled.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Note: This takes place a week after Chapter 4.**_

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**-Golden Oaks Library, 2:05 P.M, Spike's POV-**

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I sweep the broom across the wooden floor, humming the Winter Wrap Up song. Twilight's out for the day, so I'm in charge of the library. Sort of pointless; not like anypony in Ponyville actually uses the library.

"Spike!" I hear a loud whisper.

"Ah! Who's there?!" I squawk.

"Spike, it's me! Nightwing!"

And then, Nightwing smashes through the library window, scaring me out of my wits. I run over to Nightwing, who's standing in a pile of broken glass and shrapnel.

"What the heck, Nightwing?!" I growl. "There's a reason we have a door!"

"Oh. Whoops," Nightwing chuckles. "I've been trying not to attract attention. Besides, can't that magic-horn pony who lives here fix the window?"

"I guess Twilight can repair it with her magic," I huff. "Hey, why are you trying not to attract attention? Everypony already knows about you."

"You'd better not tell anyone. Fluttershy wouldn't let me out, so I snuck out."

I notice that Nightwing's wings and chest are still bandaged. She obviously shouldn't be sneaking around Ponyville when she's still injured. I'd order her to go back to Fluttershy's, but I know she wouldn't listen. "So...why are you here?" I ask.

"Don't be dumb. I said we were gonna hang out, right?"

"Oh. Right," I nod, remembering last week. Knowing that I'm going to spend time with Nightwing makes me want to jump for joy. I still can't take my eyes off of her. "Where are we going?"

"Well, I noticed that you don't have your wings yet," Nightwing says, circling me.

"Um, yeah," I stammer, feeling my wingless back. "Twilight says that my wings will grow in soon."

Nightwing rolls her beautiful, gray eyes. "Just goes to show that these horses have no idea what they're doing. Wings don't just 'grow in.' You have to earn them."

"Like cutie marks?" I say, intrigued. Nightwing looks at me, confused, and I explain to her what cutie marks are.

"Yeah, pretty much," Nightwing agrees once I've finished my explanation. "I guess you could say that cutie marks are a lot like wing marks."

"Wing marks?" I repeat. Before I can stop her, Nightwing punches my belly, activating my fire gland and causing me to spit flames. She puts her bandaged wings in the fire, and the casts burn off, showing her stunning white wings.

"When we get our wings, we also get wing marks," Nightwing says. "Look." She turns around. On the back of each wing, she has what looks like a cutie mark. It's a moon with a pair of wings in front, and black stars surrounding it.

"That's so cool!" I gush, admiring her wing marks. "How do I earn my wings?"

"You have to smash a phoenix egg," Nightwing answers calmly.

"WHAT?!"

"Dragons and phoenixes are mortal enemies. When one species suffers, the other benefits. If a dragon smashes a phoenix egg, they get their wings. If a phoenix smashes a dragon egg, they get fire powers."

Memories flood back to me of when I went on my quest to join the dragon migration. Those teenage dragons were telling me to destroy a phoenix egg...were they trying to help me get my wings?

"So, are you coming?" Nightwing asks.

"Coming where?"

"To the Everfree Forest with me to find a phoenix egg for you to smash."

"I...I'm not sure," I mumble. I don't want to kill an innocent phoenix. It's just wrong. But I really want my wings! I've never told Twilight or anypony about this, but whenever I see someone fly, it makes me feel horrible inside. Like I'm nothing. I'd do anything to get rid of that feeling...except kill! I couldn't! But I need to! These two conflicting emotions rage inside of me.

"If you don't want to come, that's fine," Nightwing snaps me out of my inner war. "But if you aren't coming, I guess that means we won't be hanging out together. Anyway, I'd better get back to Fluttershy's. My wings are starting to hurt." Nightwing starts to walk out the door.

"Wait! I'll come with you!" I call out. I couldn't imagine not being able to be with Nightwing...the most breathtaking dragoness I've ever met...

Nightwing runs back, a huge grin on her face. "Great! Let's go!"

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Soon enough, the two of us are walking into the Everfree Forest. I gulp as I hear an ominous howl from inside the thick foliage. I'm starting to get freaked out. But I can't show it; I have to look brave in front of Nightwing to make a good impression.

"Hey, um, where do you think we can find some phoenix eggs?" I whisper to Nightwing. Maybe we won't be able to find any eggs, and I won't have to take a life.

"Well, we have to find a phoenix nest first," Nightwing reasons. "The annoying birds usually nest farther in the forest."

"Oh...okay."

After a few more minutes of walking, Nightwing stops me with one arm. "Look!" she breathes. She points up to a large tree. Looking closely, I see a bird's nest in the tree. And in the nest, there's a large, magnificent red-and-yellow bird. A phoenix. And below the phoenix, there are several eggs with flame-patterns on them. I feel my stomach clench in fear. I really, really don't want to have to break one of those eggs.

"Here's the plan," Nightwing whispers. "I'll distract the mother, and you climb up here and smash an egg!"

Before I can protest, Nightwing runs up in plain sight of the mother phoenix. "Take this!" she shouts, throwing a rock and hitting the bird's head. The phoenix screeches and swoops down to attack Nightwing. "Now's your chance!" she says to me as she runs from the furious phoenix.

I dig my claws into the bark of the tree and climb up. At the top, I edge myself over to the nest, which rests precariously in a crook between two branches. I gently pick up one of the eggs and stare at it. I'm suddenly overtaken by the urge to kill as many unborn phoenixes as possible. Nightwing did say that dragons and phoenixes are mortal enemies, right? So it's benefitting my race to obliterate it?

No! I won't! I've decided. I don't care if I never get my wings. I will not kill an innocent creature!

"Hurry up, Spike!" Nightwing roars from below. She's tussling with the mother phoenix, and by the looks of it, Nightwing doesn't have the upper hand.

I'm about to tell Nightwing my decision when I hear a humongous roar from the distance. It sounds like...a dragon! A full-grown dragon! The roar is so powerful I lose my balance on the spindly branch, and plummet to the ground, the phoenix egg still in my grasp. I hit the ground with enough force to knock the breath out of me, and I black out for a few seconds. When I open my eyes, I find that I'm lying flat on the ground...and the phoenix egg I was holding is smashed to pieces a few feet beside me.

"No!" I wail, running to the egg shards. "I'm so sorry!" Then, as I stare at the broken egg, I feel an odd sense of light-headedness spread through me, focusing on my back. But I don't get time to watch as my wings grow. The roar comes again, and I run over to Nightwing. The mother phoenix screeches at us before spreading her wings and taking off. She must be scared of the full-grown dragon that's inevitably close by.

"Nightwing! Are you okay?" Nightwing is just standing there, seemingly paralyzed in fear. She's staring up at the treetops. I follow her gaze and gasp. There's a gigantic, adult white dragon flying overhead.

"Whiteout..." Nightwing whimpers. "He's come. He's come to get me."

"Whiteout? Is that the dragon flying above us?" But before Nightwing can answer, the dragon spots us through the trees.

"LOOKS LIKE I FOUND TWO LITTLE MORSELS TO SNACK ON," Whiteout roars. He lands in the forest, crushing trees with his massive bulk.

"Run!" I scream to Nightwing as Whiteout steps forward. But Nightwing is rooted in place, her eyes glazed over and fixated on Whiteout.

"Nightwing! Snap out of it!" I yell in her ear. "We've gotta run!"

"We don't have a chance, Spike," she says, tears streaming out of her eyes. "He's too strong and fast."

"We can't just give up!" I growl, yanking her tail. Nightwing nods bravely, and the two of us book it down the path leading to Ponyville. But Nightwing was right. Whiteout closes in. The distance goes from two hundred yards to one-fifty, one hundred...

"We aren't fast enough!" I pant, sprinting as fast as my legs can take me.

"You're right. We can't get away on ground. Spike, are you ready to fly?"

"Fly?" I repeat. I look to my back, and sure enough, a pair of dark purple wings sits atop me. "But I don't know how! And your wings aren't healed yet!"

"Just do what comes natural to you. I'll be fine." Nightwing promises. "Ready...set...FLY!"

The two of us flap our wings as hard as we can. We manage to get some air, but Whiteout is still gaining on us.

"What now?" I panic, teetering in midair as I try to get used to my new wings.

"We can't stay in the air for long. Fly from tree to tree as fast as you can, make sure he doesn't see you!"

"Got it!" I follow Nightwing's orders, flying inside the thick canopy of the forest. I flutter from tree to tree as fast as I can. Just when I feel like I'm going to pass out from exhaustion, Whiteout gives up and flies away, snarling, "I'll GET YOU NEXT TIME!"

I ungracefully land on the ground, gasping for breath. My newfound wing muscles are screaming in pain, and my heart is still pounding from the shock. Nightwing lands on her feet next to me, looking as exhausted as I feel.

"That was close," I say.

"No, really?" Nightwing coughs sarcastically.

"That dragon...Whiteout...is he the one who caused the forest fire a couple days ago? Why is he trying to eat us? Do you know him?"

Nightwing puts a claw up to my mouth as the questions pour out. "I'll tell you everything...when we get back to Ponyville. I'm really tired." Right on cue, Nightwing stumbles and falls over. Then I realize the state she's in. Her wings are crooked and swollen; she must be in agony right now. She also has accumulated numerous cuts and bruises from her fight with the mother phoenix. Without thinking, I reach out my claws to help her up. To my surprise, Nightwing takes my hand and hugs me. "Thanks, Spike. You saved my life there."

"You saved my life, too," I reply, blushing.

"Yeah...we make a pretty good team, don't we? A team of dragons."

"A team of dragons," I repeat, liking the sound of the phrase. "Come on, let's go home." The two of us walk back to Ponyville, not once letting go of each others hands.


End file.
